As soon as the puppy is off of “house arrest” regarding vaccinations, it typically becomes a routine to then take the puppy out into the world on a daily walk. This can serve several purposes, from letting the puppy see and explore the great outdoors, to teaching them to walk on a leash, to just giving them a way to get out of the house and get some exercise. While the walk can be great for these things, there are some behavior problems to be aware of that daily neighborhood walks can actually seem to create and/or make much worse.

There are many things and beings a puppy may encounter on a walk, be it close up or from a distance, and we want to make those experiences as low-key, positive, and natural as possible.  These may be situations such as a puppy seeing a trash can for the first time, hearing a loud truck go by, or simply smelling lots of new things all at once. Typically, for any new situation such as these, we like to let the puppy engage with the new things as much as is safely possible and as much (or as little) as he or she wants to. We also like to reward for any appropriate behavior; for example, if the puppy is cautious going up to the big scary trash bin, but sniffs around it to see that it’s ok and isn’t dangerous or worth worrying about then moves on, we would reward for that brave encounter. If the puppy is startled by something (such as a loud truck going by) and needs a minute to just see what’s going on and try to figure out the situation, it’s fine to either pause and wait for the puppy to feel out the situation, or to move further from whatever is happening if it seems too scary. We try to control the situations we put puppies in as much as possible, again aiming to have as positive of an experience as possible with new things especially for the first time, but things will happen. If something really startles or scares a puppy (hopefully just startles), it’s best to not work on it in that moment. Just tell him or her how great they are for tolerating that situation, get them out of there, and move on quickly in space and activities into something else. Take mental note of the scary thing or situation, so we can either be wary of it should arise again in the future, and/or we can work on re-building the puppy’s confidence around the situation at another time and in a specific manner. Besides these specific situations, the puppy should mostly be able to walk around and explore his or her surroundings a bit on-leash on the walk to get a sense of the world.

When meeting the neighbor or new people out in the world and on walks, we recommend working on polite greetings as soon as possible. As we do in our puppy classes, if someone approaches and asks to say hi to the puppy, assuming the puppy wants to engage with this new person, we strongly suggest stepping on the leash so that the leash is taught from the puppy’s collar to the ground, giving him or her plenty of room to stand, but not enough to ever jump on the person. This allows the puppy to wiggle or sit or stand or lay down, but vertical interactions are not allowed or ever learned, so this should be the approach taken as long as necessary until the puppy doesn’t even think to jump up on a new person, and picks a different, more polite, greeting style instead. Do remember though that if the puppy doesn’t want to engage with a new person, the puppy should never be made to interact with them; no matter how much you or the other person wants to. This can very quickly create a human-fearful dog, so remember to give your dog the space and option he or she chooses.

There are obviously lots of fun and exciting new situations to explore with a puppy out on that daily walk, however, here comes the cautionary part from someone who has pretty much seen it all.  While walks can be fantastic for so many reasons, there are a few problems that walks can actually seem to cause. The main one is that of causing or exacerbating reactivity mainly towards other dogs, and sometimes towards other people, while on-leash. By basic definition, “reactivity” means the dog reacts (typically with lunging, growling, snarling, and/or barking) towards and in the presence of an external stimulus. There is a lot to this subject, but some of the main things you need to know as a puppy owner about this on-leash reactivity are some of the following. The first is that once this behavior starts and continues, it is VERY difficult to “fix.” The second is that it is very much a learned behavior; this is good news, because there are ways to prevent it, but the training has to happen before the problem starts. The last is that it can and will occur even with off-leash friendly dogs and puppies; as in, on-leash, the dog is highly reactive towards other dogs, but off-leash and especially with the owners not directly present, the dog may vary anywhere from fine to greatly playful with no issues at all with other dogs or people. On-leash reactivity is one of the biggest and most prevalent behavior problems with dogs in our city, but the good news is that if you are truly willing to go the extra mile to prevent this behavior, you and your dog will have a much better “leash life” and have so many more opportunities out in the world together.

Let’s talk about how this behavior typically begins with a puppy. For simplicity’s sake, let’s assume you have a very young puppy, under the age of about twelve weeks, who hasn’t had any negative experiences with other dogs or on-leash, and you’re just starting out with your neighborhood walks together. We’ll also assume you’ve done your at-home practice with leash-work, as in you have gotten the puppy slowly used to the leash itself and he or she is ready to go out for the real walks. At first, the puppy is typically quite cautious and even timid going outside; it’s a big world with lots of things to see, smell, feel, and hear, and most of it is brand new to the puppy. After several short “walks” or just times spent being outside on the leash though, the puppy is feeling more comfortable and is ready to be brave and go further for a more “regular” walk. At this point, he or she will encounter all kinds of new things, including first hearing other dogs barking in the neighborhood from their backyards, which at first, is ok if he or she is nervous about. What the puppy next encounters though, is another dog on-leash on a walk. This is where things can get tricky. Many dogs that your puppy may see will often be barking at the sight of another dog (your puppy), and whether the barking may be out of excitement or more aggressive reactivity, this is a behavior that your puppy is very likely to also pick up. It usually begins out of frustration where the puppy wants to say hi to the other dog he or she sees from a distance, but isn’t able to, and often starts to bark out of frustration. This will often progress however, to overall leash reactivity, where the puppy grows older and lunges and barks at any other dog he or she sees while out on the walk or on the leash. It may have begun as excitement and frustration in not being able to approach the other dog, but usually gets worse very quickly in that he or she is now likely even aggressive towards other dogs on leash.

To avoid this type of behavior, which is very difficult if not almost impossible to fix once it starts and becomes a habit, there are a few things we can try with the puppy.

Firstly, and the best and easiest option by far, it is recommended to simply avoid walks for a while with the young puppy. Partly, this is obviously to not let this leash-reactive behavior even begin. More so though, a puppy who is under around four months of age is still in the extremely crucial “socialization window” or “exposure period” where everything he or she does (or doesn’t) experience, greatly affects them and their later life. So with this being said, and with how extremely important this time-frame is for a puppy, it is actually so much more beneficial for them to be taken out in the world somewhere (such as a restaurant patio if they’re friendly and ready, outdoors growers’ market, uptown or downtown, etc.) for them to get the socialization and exposure to the world and everything in it instead. This should occur once the puppy has around three sets of shots (ask your vet or contact us if you are unsure if your puppy has enough vaccinations to walk around new places). It is important to go slowly, and don’t overwhelm the puppy. Check in with them and make sure they aren’t stressed; use your space and just be as close or as far as your puppy feels comfortable in that setting. Since the puppy is out of their element and the environment contains a lot of “busy happenings,” he or she is so much less likely to become reactive in this environment, even if another dog is encountered. The other advantage of this situation is that other dogs encountered in these environments are less likely to be reactive (growling, barking, lunging) towards other dogs, so your puppy might be able to actually approach these dogs to say hello if you so choose; or even if an interaction doesn’t occur, the puppy won’t pick up any bad behaviors from the other dogs seen.

Secondly, if avoiding the daily neighborhood walk isn’t 100% an option, or for any applicable similar situations, we can try to lessen any negative behaviors from occurring with the puppy when he or she encounters other dogs being walked or who are behind fences. The first is to try simply rewarding for calm from a distance. Essentially, just as your puppy sees another dog from whatever distance they may be, and before the puppy reacts with any barking or lunging, we reward with a verbal marker of “yes!” and reward with any high-value treat the puppy really likes. You may continue doing this as you approach/pass the other dog (hopefully across the street or from a little distance away if possible, as the closer your puppy is to the other dog, the more difficult it will be for the puppy to remain calm), by giving the verbal marker word “yes” and giving treats for the puppy looking at the other dog (or whatever being or object may be ahead) and not reacting in a negative way. This would be a great thing to do with the puppy pretty much his or her whole life around anything you don’t want them to react to. Keep in mind that this must happen before the puppy starts to react; if he or she is already reacting, it’s a bit too late for this approach, or you are too close to what the puppy is reacting to.

Another similar good approach would be to try what’s mentioned above, but for a more toy/game-driven puppy, reward with a toy instead of treats in this setting. For example, in the same situation mentioned, as soon as the puppy sees another dog (but before the puppy reacts in any way), give the verbal reward marker of “yes” and reward with a game of tug with a special toy. To make this most effective, instead of bringing a toy that the dog always has available at home, try buying a new “special walk toy” – meaning one that the puppy really likes and that he or she only gets on the walks when you need it. This may take a little time to teach the puppy to play in a distracting environment such as with another dog or other things or people present, but for a toy-motivated dog, this may be more effective than food rewards.

Lastly, what we can try in this setting too is to add some of what are called “incompatible behaviors” to use as a tool in this setting – now and forever with the puppy in any difficult setting. At home and with lots of practice in different areas, we would first teach the puppy essentially some fun tricks to use that they really like. For example, we could teach the puppy a “touch” (nose to your hand), “spin” (turn in a circle), or “wave” (like a shake, but with no hand contact), and these become the incompatible behaviors. Once the puppy knows and enjoys these behaviors and will do these tricks in many different settings and places, we can then use them as something physical and fun for the puppy to do in a tough setting – such as in the presence of another dog out in the world. In the same settings as mentioned above, as soon as the puppy sees another dog from a distance, we would immediately ask for one of the tricks he or she knows well. In this situation, the puppy can now do either one of two things – react towards the other dog (which we obviously do not want), or, he or she can do a behavior incompatible with reacting – as in, one of the tricks. The goal of this training is to give the puppy something to do in the presence of something distracting and difficult, instead of just telling them what we don’t want them to do, which is react towards other the dogs.

With any of the aforementioned training ideas, it will take some time and training practice, but leash-reactivity can certainly be prevented. Also, you don’t have to avoid walks forever; this is just a temporary situation where your time is better spent elsewhere with your puppy while he or she is still in that crucial exposure window (as in out in the world, at busy places). Once the puppy is around eight months or so, this would be a better time to start regular neighborhood walks. You will also now have many different tools and training ideas to use as you need them if you encounter a difficult situation.

Good luck and happy exploring!

Disclaimer:

All dogs and puppies are individuals, and what works for one may not work for another. You are responsible for your dog at all times, no matter the situation, and the safety of yourself, your dog, and others is your responsibility at all times. Arie’s Dogland will not be held responsible for any issues occurred. The advice and information given in this article are meant for a healthy and friendly puppy; the behavior modification training needed for an aggressive or reactive dog will be different than the training advice mentioned above which is meant for young puppies, and safety measures must be used. Do not take a reactive or aggressive dog or puppy out in the world. If your dog needs training help, contact Arie’s Dogland or another reward-based training professional for help. This article may only be re-published (in whole or in part) with specific written permission from Arie’s Dogland.